Jim Edgar's Big Victory

November 09, 1994

If the normally buttoned-down Gov. Jim Edgar slipped into an empty room sometime Tuesday night, locked the door, and let out a loud, throaty "Yes!," it's completely understandable. He has a right to be excited by the overwhelming affirmation he has received from Illinois voters.

Democrat Dawn Clark Netsch was outgunned financially and her campaign didn't deliver its message very effectively. But this election was determined more by the public's comfort with Edgar than by its distaste for Netsch. Considering the size of the victory, it's doubtful any Democrat could have knocked off Edgar this year.

Netsch has had a distinguished and accomplished public life, and she can hold her head high in defeat.

The hope is that Edgar will gain confidence from this strong show of public support and be emboldened to set the state and its public schools on a sound financial footing.

He has never been in a stronger position to do just that. He is free from the "no new taxes" pledge he made in his first term. He has a four-year lease to make his Medicaid reforms work. He has the momentum to push for business reforms and for innovative education ideas like charter schools.

His election numbers should forewarn legislative leaders that if they obstruct his agenda, they do so at their own peril. Edgar has the public on his side.

The governor has vowed that his second term will not be a repeat of his first. Indeed, it cannot be.

Edgar has correctly noted that the first half of his term was consumed with riding out a national recession that cut into state revenues while the costs of some state services-particularly public health care and child protection-soared. The dire situation made it more difficult for his administration to start many new initiatives that involved more spending. The economy made it difficult to provide more money for schools.

But even with an improving economy, Illinois won't have enough money to pay all of its bills and take care of schools. Edgar, much like his predecessor, Jim Thompson, tried to run a "What, me worry?" campaign, but the governor knows that he and the General Assembly have delayed a day of reckoning.

It's coming soon. The state will end the fiscal year next June with a pile of unpaid bills, starting with a $1.5 billion Medicaid deficit. The Chicago Public School system has to erase a $290 million deficit before it can open next fall. Those 145 suburban and Downstate school districts on the state's financial watch list will be crying for help, too.

And all those legislators who promised to lock up every jaywalker for a life-and-a-day term will want to make good quickly on their saber-rattling campaign vows. Few of them explained how they will pay for the necessary jail cells.

Governor, take the voters' affirmation as a sign of trust. But don't take it as a signal that deficits and school crises can be a way of life.